Why are some nails nailed to the exquisite Ming Dynasty murals?

Recently, on the Cuiwei Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing, an obscure little temple named "fahai temple" was officially reopened to the public after being renovated behind closed doors, so that the Ming Dynasty murals here surpassed Dunhuang in aesthetics, and some even said, "If you go to Beijing, you can't help but visit fahai temple." It also allows us to re-understand the story that happened in this small temple and has been dusty for many years.

In the fourth year of the Ming Dynasty, thomas lee, the great eunuch, had a dream in which a fairy showed him a treasure trove of geomantic omen. Thomas lee found a dream treasure at the south foot of Cuiwei Mountain in the west of Beijing, so he built a temple here. Ming Yingzong mentioned it himself: fahai temple.

After investigation, it turned out that a little soldier who stayed in fahai temple in the army nailed several nails on the wall where the mural was located in order to hang his clothes. One of the nails has a crack about 7 feet up and down.

On April 14 of the same year, the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Ministry of Culture of the Central People's Government requested "protection as much as possible". At the same time, when Xu Beihong, then president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, heard about this incident, he reported to the Ministry of Culture, and Mao Dun, then Minister of Culture, personally signed it, demanding that "nails that have been nailed should not be pulled out, and those that have not been nailed should be gently nailed in to avoid being damaged when they are pulled out".

The little soldier who nailed the nail was criticized and educated, and the troops also withdrew from fahai temple. In this way, fahai temple murals were carefully protected before being destroyed in a large area.

Fahai temple's murals are quietly preserved in the dark hall of great heroes. In order to protect this national treasure, which has been preserved for nearly 600 years, the audience can only visit for a limited time and watch some murals with the weak light of flashlight. But everyone who has seen it is full of praise.

Take fahai temple's most admired mural Shuiyue Guanyin as an example. The most impressive thing is the transparent tulle scarf worn by Guanyin Bodhisattva. The hexagonal petals composed of 48 gold threads are used by royal painters to show that tulle is as thin as cicada's wings, and its exquisiteness is difficult to reproduce. This is a symbol of the peak of mural creation technology.